Written by: Lila Rose
Reviewed by: Mary Warren
Reagan is an English teacher at the high school she attended. She grew up there as the fat kid and endured some bullying, but she has emerged a confident and funny, albeit disorganized and unconventional woman. She is charming and cares deeply about her students and her family. Her high school crush, who was also the high school quarterback turned pro, has been transferred to the local pro team. During a school assembly to honor him, he and Reagan have a meet cute that had me laughing. It turns out Carter also had a crush on Reagan back in the day, but he cared too much about what his jerky teammates thought to act on it. Now he doesn’t care what anyone thinks, but will Reagan be able to trust him? Ahhhh… the makings of a great romance.
This book is funny. The scene where Naked Yoga is discussed had me laughing out loud, in fact my daughter came out of her room to ask what I was laughing at. I rarely laugh like that at a book. Reagan has absolutely no filter, so some of the things that come out of her mouth were hilarious. The families of both characters make appearances . I enjoy when families are sources of love and support and maybe a couple laughs like they are in this book.
The fat representation in this book was just the way I like it. Early in the book, bullying was brought up through an experience Reagan had had when she overheard Carter’s teammates talking about her when they thought she couldn’t hear. It was relatable as a fat person, but the book didn’t dwell in those comments. It showed us the past, and then we got to move on to the present with Reagan as a confident yet delightfully awkward woman. Carter likes her instantly and is attracted to her and the body she is in.
I will say this book had a couple moments that rubbed me the wrong way. There is some misogyny in the way some of the characters talk. I also thought there was some of the same misogyny in the treatment of the character of Elena, who was Carter’s high school girlfriend and Reagan’s high school bully. I mean, she is awful and trying to get Carter back from Reagan. I’m not saying the hate wasn’t warranted, but there was lots of calling her “a slut” and “crazy” and words that just make my hackles go up. We can talk about people’s terrible behavior without using coded misogynistic language.
Overall though I think this book does deliver on what it is supposed to give. It hit all the romcom boxes. Funny? Check. Romantic? Check. Spicy? Check! I am here for it.